Hooton - West Kirby. Lost railway lines of Merseyside. The Wirral Way

Another explore following the Wirral Way, which was a former railway line running between Hooton and West Kirby.

The Birkenhead Joint Railway (BJR) Hooton and Parkgate branch opened on 1 October 1866. The BJR was a joint railway of the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) and the Great Western Railway (GWR). Hooton was located on the BJR Birkenhead - Chester main line and there was a colliery at Parkgate (Neston Colliery) which the BJR wanted to serve. The Parkgate branch passed through a rural area but three stations were provided to serve areas of population Hadlow Road, Neston and Parkgate.

The branch was a single track line. At the time of opening passenger services mostly ran between Hooton and Parkgate with some services continuing on to Birkenhead Monks Ferry.

Parkgate station started as a terminus station situated on the south side of the village on an embankment south of the Neston to Parkgate Road. A road led up to the platform from the Neston to Parkgate road. As the branch was built as a single track railway the station was provided with just one platform located on the west side of the line. A run around loop was provided so that the engine of an incoming train could take the same train back out again. The station was also provided with goods facilities including a number of sidings. A colliery branch also connected into the station.

In 1884 work started on an extension of the branch to West Kirby. The course of the new line deviated from the original line a short distance to the south of the original station. To avoid trains having to reverse out of Parkgate Station a new station was built on the north side of the Neston to Parkgate Road. This new station, also called Parkgate opened on the 19th of April 1886 and the original station closed, although it was repurposed as a freight yard serving the local colliery. New stations opened at Heswall, Thurstaston, Caldy, Kirby Park and finally terminating at West Kirby.

The facilities at the BJR West Kirby station were relatively modest. They consisted of a single platform located on the west side of the line. On the platform there were two single-storey buildings with pitched roofs, standing side-by-side. One was of brick, its simple design enlivened by scalloped bargeboards. The other, immediately north-west of it, was of timber, and it possessed a modest flat awning on the platform elevation. There was a passing loop at the station so that engines could run around their trains and at the south-eastern end of it, and adjacent to Grange Lane, on the east side of the line, there was a turntable. At the southern end of the platform there was a water tank and directly opposite the station building, east of the line, was a signal box. To the north of the station there were sidings and, beyond them, the junction with the SH&DR which was controlled by that company’s signal box.

From 1886 the pattern of passenger services was westbound (up direction) to West Kirby and eastbound (down direction) to Hooton with some going forward to Birkenhead Woodside. At this time some long distance passenger services used the connection and excursion traffic used the connection at West Kirby onto the Wirral line.

On 1 January 1923 the LNWR became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). From this date the line became LMS/GWR joint. In 1927 Neston Colliery closed which led to a big reduction in freight traffic over the line. However the passenger service remained popular throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s. Two of the up trains ran through to New Brighton the 11.27am and the 9.34pm. The latter train had originated from London Euston. The 10.55am down train had through coaches for London Euston which had originated from New Brighton.

With the outbreak of the Second World War on 3 September 1939 the passenger service was reduced and through trains to and from London Euston ceased.

By the mid-1950s one of the major users of the line were scholars travelling from stations along the route to the secondary schools in West Kirby but otherwise competition from road transport saw a big decline in passenger numbers. Faced with mounting losses British Railways withdrew the passenger service between Hooton and West Kirby and Hooton completely on 17 September 1956.

In 1961 newly introduced DMUs passed through the disused stations. However they were not for the use of passengers. The line was being used to train drivers in the use of the DMUs.

The line continued to be used for goods until 7 May 1962. The last goods train stopped at all of the former passenger stations and removed any remaining fixtures and fittings that were of value. Early in 1964 the demolition gangs began their work and the line was lifted.

In 1968 the route of the Hooton to West Kirby branch was chosen to create Britain’s first Country Park - the Wirral Country Park - and a 12-mile footpath/bridleway called the Wirral Way.

A special tribute to 507/508 units soon to be history.